Before Clean Makeup Was Everywhere, There Was Ilia’s Super Serum Skin Tint

Safe to say, back in 2020, Ilia’s Super Serum Skin Tint was ahead of its time. For those who don’t remember, even just six years ago, the concept of no-makeup makeup was slowly emerging after years of the heavy-duty, full-face beats that dominated the 2010s. Back then, clean, skin-care-infused cosmetics was a niche category, which Ilia helped skyrocket to the mainstream. While much has changed in the past six years, Super Serum Skin Tint has remained perfectly consistent—although there is a new splashy campaign with the Grammy Award–winning trio Haim to remind us just how good the formula is.

“We haven’t touched the original formula since we launched Super Serum Skin Tint in 2020,” Ilia founder Sasha Plavsic tells Vogue. Back then, Plavsick’s own personal needs—as someone with hypersensitive skin and a new mom perpetually short on time—inspired the formula. “I was looking for an all-in-one solution—a complexion product that combined active skin care, mineral SPF 40, and meaningful coverage in one formula, while being safe for sensitive skin—but couldn’t find it on the market. So we made it ourselves.”

Vogue’s Concetta Ciarlo tests the Ilia Super Serum Skin Tint SPF40 in shade Diaz ST7.

Vogue’s Kiana Murden tests the Ilia Super Serum Skin Tint SPF40 in shade Rialto ST13.5.

As Plasvic continues, perfecting the texture was one of the biggest priorities when developing Super Serum Skin Tint. It took several iterations to strike the right balance—not too runny, yet not overly viscous. Along with texture, thoughtfully selecting skin-care-forward ingredients that could seamlessly coexist with complexion coverage and broad-spectrum sun protection was just as essential.

“[The formula] is powered by allantoin, which helps comfort sensitive skin and helps reduce the look of redness,” she explains. “Plus, there’s niacinamide to smooth and refine, hyaluronic acid to plump, plant-based squalane to hydrate, and non-nano zinc oxide to protect the skin.” Not heavy like a foundation, nor greasy and thick like many mineral sunscreens, the formula leaves behind a naturally luminous your-skin-but-better finish. When it comes to sun protection, Plasvic says there’s no need to layer it atop another sunscreen, as the formula offers SPF 40 protection. That said, if you prefer to double up, Super Serum Skin Tint is lightweight and fast-absorbing enough to layer comfortably.

True to Ilia’s high-performance ethos, the brand conducted extensive clinical trials to ensure efficacy. The study found that 100% of testers noticed a boost and moisture; and after 28 days, all of the participants agreed that the tint smoothed skin texture, minimized the appearance of pores, and evened skin tone. Furthermore, those with sensitive skin even noticed an improvement in redness.

When it comes to finding your shade, the range is more forgiving than you might expect; even so, there are plenty of options to choose from. “Super Serum Skin Tint comes in 30 shades that consider cool, warm, neutral, and olive overtones,” says Plasvic. While that may sound overwhelming to the uninitiated, the online shade finder makes finding your match much easier, without wandering up and down the beauty aisle swatching every bottle. You can also reach out to the brand’s customer service team—made up of makeup artists—who can help match you from a simple selfie.

Back in early 2020, before I was a beauty writer, I was a fresh-faced assistant at Vogue. One afternoon, I needed to do my makeup before an event, so I ducked in to the Sephora near the office for a complexion solution. At that point, I’d already outgrown my heavier, more experimental makeup phase and gravitated toward fresher, skin-first looks, with a little more emphasis on the eyes and lips. As an early clean-beauty devotee, Ilia was my first stop, and I left with the brand’s then new Super Serum Skin Tint. Depending on the season, I alternate between Diaz ST7 (a light-medium shade with neutral undertones), and Paloma ST9 (a medium shade with neutral undertones)—it all depends on whether or not I’m sun-kissed.

Since then, I’ve tested, loved, and left behind more complexion products than I can count; yet Ilia’s remains one I consistently return to for its effortless your-skin-but-better finish. With reactive, acne- and oil-prone skin, I’m especially selective about what I put on my face—I’m naturally drawn to complexion products with skin-care benefits built in. A few drops buffed in with a stippling brush have never let me down. It feels weightless, evens out my complexion without masking my skin, and still looks great when I catch my reflection a few hours later. I’ll usually follow up with a bit of concealer over lingering dark spots or the occasional breakout, but that’s more personal preference than necessity.

In the interest of full transparency, there’s one small detail worth mentioning: While the formula is largely noncomedogenic, it does contain shea butter esters—an ingredient that can be a potential pore clogger for some people. That said, I tend to approach makeup the same way someone with a mild allergy approaches a new food: If I try it and my skin is happy, I don’t write it off because of a single ingredient. Personally, this formula has never caused a breakout, which is a big reason it has remained in my regular rotation. But if I’m particularly oily or in the middle of a breakout, I’ll put a pause on this pick and return to it when my skin is regulated.

There’s no right or wrong way to apply Ilia’s Super Serum Skin Tint—choose your own adventure. “I’m usually trying to just get out the door in the mornings, so I’ll opt to use my hands, warming the product up on my fingers and applying directly to my face,” says Plavsic. “If I have a little more time to enjoy the ritual of doing my makeup, I’ll opt to use our complexion brush to apply the product.”

Plus, that anything-goes application approach is one that celebrity makeup artist Kirin Bhatti cosigns, as she explained in our best skin tints guide—but she personally prefers a hybrid method, using a makeup brush to apply the product and blending it out with fingertips for a seamless finish. She also advises against using a damp beauty sponge, as skin tints can get easily absorbed due to their semisheer formulas.

When we test and review a product, we take a holistic approach to deliver well-rounded product recommendations. First, we lean on Vogue’s vast network of experts, from board-certified dermatologists to celebrity estheticians, to gain professional insight into the industry’s standout products—those that these specialists would actually use on their clients. We pair their expertise with our editorial best practices to curate thoughtful edits.

For tinted serums, we selected the best based on the following characteristics: ingredients, whether it’s noncomedogenic, coverage, SPF level, SPF type, texture, packaging, finish, and the skin-care concerns it addresses. To do this, we paired our personal tests of each formula with expert guidance and reviewer insights to determine which to recommend.